Feeding a toddler or young child usually involves seating the toddler or child at a high chair or table, and more particularly, utilizing a tray to present and arrange the various food items and utensils that are to be fed to the toddler or child. When feeding a toddler or child, caregivers often find themselves picking up from the floor food items and/or utensils that have fallen off of the tray or the table, or that the toddler or child has thrown from the table. However, once these items and utensils have fallen to the floor, they are usually rendered inedible or unusable due to the unsanitary condition of the floor. As a result, food goes wasted and more utensils are require during the feeding process.
Hospitals and other medical care facilities face similar situations. Namely, adult caregivers often are called upon to feed and administer adult patients. These patients may inadvertently or intentionally attempt to knock food items and utensils from a tray or table on which the caregiver has placed the food items and utensils. Furthermore, adult patients (being stronger than toddlers and children) may attempt to knock off the food tray itself (although some children may be strong enough to attempt to do this themselves.) Again, in either case, there are unpleasant results when food items and or utensils are moved from a tray or table to an unsanitary floor.
Traditional trays and utensil arrangements do not solve these problems, as the trays do not secure themselves to tables or other surfaces on which they are placed. Further, such traditional trays do not include retention features for removably attaching utensils to the trays.
Accordingly, there exists a need for a tray system that overcomes all of the disadvantages of the prior art, while still retaining the advantages of the prior art.